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breaking news

Hurricanes’ Marcus Forston will begin fall practice on third team

Stardom once seemed a certainty for defensive tackle Marcus Forston.
A Parade All-American who was ranked as one of the nation’s Top 10 high school players by Rivals.com following his senior season at Miami Northwestern, Forston barely missed a beat after taking a step up to the college level.

Injuries have stunted Marcus Forston's career.

In his first season at UM in 2008, Forston showed flashes of greatness while earning a spot on the Football Writers Association of America Freshman All-America first team.

But injuries limited Forston to three games in 2009 and caused him to redshirt. Knee surgery forced Forston to miss all of spring practice, allowing others like Micanor Regis and Curtis Porter to move ahead of him.

When fall practice begins in August, Forston will be on the third team, according to coach Randy Shannon.

It’s not personal, Shannon points out. Just business.

“He has to compete like anybody else,” Shannon said. “If he’s good enough, he’ll beat them out and if he’s not, we’re a better team.”

Regis and Porter had big spring practices and seem like locks to be part of the rotation at defensive tackle next season. Senior Josh Holmes, the elder statesman in the interior of UM’s defensive line, is a “mainstay”, according to Shannon.

That will leave Forston battling with Jeremy Lewis and Luther Robinson for the final two spots on travel roster.

“We’ll see what he does in August,” Shannon said of Forston. “We’re only going to travel five [defensive tackles].”

Shannon is obviously trying to put some pressure on Forston, a 6-foot-3, 310-pound redshirt sophomore with two career starts, and he isn’t the only one.

Here are a few more notes with Shannon discussing the performance of the defense during spring practice:

…..Senior Kylan Robinson will begin fall practice as the starting middle linebacker and has squelched the possibility that Colin McCarthy will be moved from weakside linebacker to the middle. Shannon said that the best three linebackers will be on the field, which means that McCarthy could still shift inside if Jordan Futch and Ramon Buchanan, who missed spring practice while recovering from surgery, shine in the fall and Robinson falters. But Shannon made clear that it’s Robinson’s job to lose. “He was physical, chased the football, learned the defense and understood what the offense is trying to do to you,” Shannon said of Robinson, a converted running back. “It was a like a brand new person. We put a lot of pressure on him, telling him, ‘Hey, this is it. We need you to step up. If not, we’re going to put somebody in front of you.’ We put Shayon [Green] in front of him [at the start of spring practice] and he didn’t get discouraged. He kept making plays and doing a lot of good things. When spring practice was all said and done, it was like, ‘Whoa, OK, I like this.’ He’s really stepped it up.”

….Shannon said that cornerback DeMarcus Van Dyke had “an unbelievable spring.” Finding the right buttons to push with Van Dyke, talented but erratic, is the key. “When you keep your thumb on him, keep pressure on him, Van Dyke is unbelievable,” Shannon said. “When you don’t, then Van Dyke is going to be up and down a little bit. It’s time. He’s a senior.”

….While fans are infatuated with Ray Ray Armstrong’s athletic ability, it’s Vaughn Telemaque who may be UM’s next great safety. According to Shannon, Telemaque “is going to be an Edward Reed.” While Armstrong will enter fall practice battling Jamal Reid for a starting job, Telemaque has no such worries. tough. “Vaughn Telemaque is going to be one of the great ones,” Shannon said. “He showed it this spring – the range, going after the football. Tackling – he ‘s not going to be one of these guys that takes your head off — but he gets you on the ground. He makes a lot of plays.”